Hey Hobbs
A more unified place to ask specific questions (that we don't mind being seen by others) of the DM, so he doesn't have to wade through our miles of conspiracy theorizing first. Also, lol meme. Like We Should Like To Believe, a forum divided by name rather than an informative article. Questions New Ashra s9e4 *Was the dragon in Into the Dark indeed a black dragon? Did I extract any memories from it when I ate it? **It was a back dragon. You did not extract any relevant memories from it. *If Zaphodel (or a thrall in general) breaks free, how long does it take to reestablish control? Is it something feasible in a tactical situation, or does it take some time? **As the spell Dominate Person. (UPDATE: when I read your question, I read "break free" as "break contact." That is, within the two minutes. If Zaph regains consciousness completely, she will have to be re-thrulled.) **I remember when I initially purchased her, it was just "okay, take the two weeks and you've got a thrall." If she breaks free and I have to repeat the process, will we have to do more along the lines of restraining her, and will she be making saves? Assuming the process is not interrupted, can it fail? If she needs to be physically restrained, how far into the process will that no longer be necessary? *When Zaph and I are asleep, if something (sound, motion, etc.) wakes her, will I automatically wake as well, or only if I would have woken up from the same sound/motion/etc. anyway? Is it a feasible gambit to set for her that if she wakes up and I'm still asleep, she must wake me up as well? **You will not automatically wake up for her, nor will she auto wake up for you. You can, however, gambit her to wake you as her first action. *How common did thralls used to be? Would most illithids have them, or only the high ranking guys? **Thralls were uncommon because they had to be slaves in Malvont or prisoners in Baldur. High ranking people would have three or four, plus one retainer, and then give up a favored thrull for cepholomorphosis. *Are there thrall prestige classes (that are plausible/allowed/worth going for)? **Not really. *What is the first level Luck domain spell, since Entropic Shield is banned? **True Strike *Does Fauntleroy's Magical Disguise Kit's magical effect also alter the appearance of clothing? If not, can Disguise Self be layered over its effect to give the appearance of different clothing? **The disguise kit does change clothing and gear, but only in appearence. *How do illithids formally introduce ourselves, since we have no surnames? **Like this. *Will Protection from Positive Energy protect against the effects of lichbane? **Nope. Lichbane is a poison. *If not, is there an equivalent of Death Ward for positive energy effects? **Nope. *Is there a cleric spell (Heal, Restoration, or another) that will remove physical and/or mental addiction to a drug? **No. Restoration can help treat physical addiction, and a Geas can help treat mental addiction. *What amount of the illithids weren't tax collectors? Were there only a few that went into government to specifically represent the illithids, or were there other careers available? Were our jobs picked by ourselves, or by the Mother Brain? **Every one that you met was in government. There were the two guildhome potentates, the senator, the ruling council member, a few teachers and a few craftsman. *There are references in the pre-Battle of Malvont episodes to the illithids gradually disappearing. Did people I know disappear before the mass departure? Did they give excuses, or were they just suddenly gone? **They all suddenly vanished. *Is whose thrall an illithid cepholomorphized from something they'd ever know? I know I know I was made from a "human sorcerer," but did I ever know whose human sorcerer it was? Would illithids ever seek specific contact with the new illithids made from their old favorite thralls, or was it just a general donation to the pool of host bodies? **Most thrulls donated came from the general pool before they were allocated to individual illithids. *When we saw the amulet on Fauxdin (after the demi-lich of Xenteroth noticed it and then we all turned to look at it) was it the yo dawg amulet? That is, was it a freaking huge Yugi Moto thing that he'd somehow managed to conceal? Or were we seeing a more subtle-looking amulet? I know how he did it is our job to conspiracy theorize, but I'm curious as to what we saw. **The large amulet first appeared on the centermost of Eldergrin fates, and was then stolen by Marcus when he teleported away with Fauxdin. Any other amulet in Faudin's posession was a fragment of the first amulet. *How does the party tend to sell off unwanted items? Does Vishnu liquidate them for us? Do we sell to the shops we're shopping at, like in a video game? **You're in a town, you tell me you want them sold, and your characters sell them to dealers or wholesalers. Certain items have haggling minigames, but most don't. I have provided prices. You may exchange the items for gold or gold for items at your leasure. GC Moneychanger's fee is %10 on sums under 1000, %7 1000-10,000, and %5 over 10,000 GP. *Mixed in with a bunch of masterwork exotic weapons from the masterwork exotic weapons collection we found in the Ruins of Eldergrin is a masterwork longspear. Is this a simple weapon as per PHB, or is it some exotic variant? **As PHB. *In general, what kind of spells can't Zaphodel cast because of her thrall status? I've been avoiding ones that give her information (Find Traps, etc.) but you made a reference to her inability to cast Summon Monster spells due to concentration issues. Is there a class of spell that's unfeasible for her to keep up? **She could cast summon monster, but controling the monsters would be difficult. Any spell that requires maintained concentration she probably won't be able to cast reliably. *There's a specific association with Make Six that you told me about some months ago. Would Ashra know/remember it? I don't know if that was in the Dark Tower or not, though Marcus implied it was. ** **Meaning it's okay to tell Deadelfwalking about it? *Were there illithids in Goneril City? Was there a Mother Brain there? Are we a legal species there? **Relevant questions! No, no, and no-ish (not shoot-on-sight, but denied citizenship rights). The same holds true throughout Baldur. *Also, is slavery (and the keeping of thralls, if applicable) legal there? **It is illegal, but there is still institutional serfdom. Thralling someone, or (capital letter) Dominating, Geassing, Suggesting, Enslaving, Voidminding, or otherwise fucking with a citizen or subject's free will is a capital offense, and is considered slightly worse than robbing graves to create a zombie army or burning down a nursing home filled with puppies. *I was 20 years old and legally an "adult" mindflayer well before I reached aberration level 8 and got all of my powers. I also was probably learning faster than most due to the whole adventuring shebang. Did most of the standard tax collector mindflayers ever attain all of the psionics etc.? **Almost all do. Most just don't go outside before they do. s9e5 *As far as combat etc. goes, what gear do most mindflayers have? I know wands are expensive, but are the cheaper ones what they tend to go for if they need a weapon? Or do we tend to stick to magic/psionics? **Most illithids carry no gear, because, in general, if their thralls have lost the battle, they might as well just teleport away like big pussies. Some have been known to use banned-by-international-treaty chemical weapons and spells. *Similarly, what did we tend to make? I'm assuming emotion stones were made by us, but did we make any other crafts? **Some psy crystals are illithid made, some memory stones, some psy power stones, etc, etc, etc. Otherwise, illithid craftspeople tend to make whatever their city makes. Any illithid is more likely to take up architecture and design than craft, though, because a) spacebrain and b) they don't have 40 years to blow on learning to craft magic swords. *Do mindflayers from the Northern Continent and Southern Continent ever interact? Do we have any diplomatic connections that I know of? Do they consider us lamers and we consider them barbarians? **Not officially. *Is the Eolian Desert impassible/extremely difficult to cross? Does it extend all the way to the north of Mind's Touch, or does it get more hospitable? **the Eolian Desert is not bad compared to the Firemore Desert. Both are passible. In theory. *Who/what are the native speakers of Axiomatic? **It's a constructed language of Mechanis. *The existence of a formality level specifically for speaking (or thinking) to the Mother Brain implies that there are times when one would do so. What are these times? Was there be etiquette besides using the higher formality level? **The formality level is for the Mother Brain, beings of great intelligence, Gods, and elder illithids. The Mother Brain's connection was assumed, so you'd only address her if you had something *important* to say. *When the connection to a Mother Brain gives a static Int boost, does the stream of information come by request, or by her monitoring your thoughts and feeding you the information you need for what you're thinking about? **The int boost comes from subliming information gathered by other illithids that is broadcast into your brain by the Mother. Consider it an "insight" bonus. You'll get all the information, you just get to access it subconsciously. Hence how "bona fortuna" was hidden for so long. *Are there spells/psionics that read a person's mind more deeply than surface thoughts? **Yes. But they're pretty invasive. *Who all did I adventure with as a teenager? Were any of them (the ones that aren't in jail or royalty as far as I know) the type that I think might come if I invited them to the dargon throwdown? **Thimblewell, Feetus and Avi. They were pretty criminal-minded, but you were able to save their asses that one time. *If I'm wearing my resist ring and have Protection from Elements (lightning), will the resist first subtract 10 from the damage taken and then the rest of the damage comes out of my 120 points of resistance? Or will its effect not be useful until the pro elements runs out? **Resistance and Protection apparently do not stack. For reference, the ring acts as the spell "resist energy." *How did illithids relate to Mother Brains other than the one they were spawned from? I've been connected to both Baldur and Malvont -- was it basically the same, and was I treated basically the same? Did the connection feel different, like they were two different people? **The Mothers are different entities, and treat you differently. The Malvont motherbrain was always rather permissive with you, and didn't mind so much if you got killed. As for how they normally treat you, "mother" is the wrong metaphor. The Motherbrain is a consortium of all the people older than you, ever, none of whom claim emotional kinship. *What was the status of illithids in Malvont before they all disappeared? **They were undergoing a trial citizenship. Having seen how helpful they were in the Baldur government, Malvont offered it's underground spacebrain friends a day in the sun (literally and figuratively) to see if they were capable of serving as normal members of a multiracial society. You were on loan to promote the image of Illithids as a regular, responcible, politically loyal race. *Does the Scrying Table's speakstone feature log what calls have been made when? Is it possible to enable such a feature, or to password-protect the speakstone? **Nope. But awesome. *''As her gambits currently stand'', is there anyone Zaphodel will follow orders from besides me while I'm awake? Would it be possible for someone to convince her to do so without my assistance, or is that beyond the limits of her ability to process? If she casts a spell I didn't order her to cast, will I know automatically, or would I have to set a gambit for her to tell me? **In order asked: No, yes, no. *Is there anything that will block Sendings? **Yes. *Was Grax's letter printed/typed? **No. Ethan Season Nine, Episode Four *What kind of speech patterns should we be expecting from Ganth? Does he have the tendency to use the royal 'we' or something? Does he project an aura of majesty like King Avimeus did? (I am assuming that such an aura would not necessarily be detectable through Astral Projection.) **What kind of speach patterns should you be expecting? A whole variety. Likely to speak only in Celestial. He will almost certainly have a royal aura (will saves, people!). As for protocol-- In general, avoid second person statements, imperatives, the informal second person pronoun. Eat whatever he serves you. Don't look him in the eye. Bow. Don't show fear, but FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T BE A DICK TO HIM BECAUSE HE WILL EAT YOUR SOUL LIKE MALICOR EATS PAIN. ***...no showing fear and needing to understand Celestial. FFFF well I guess it was kind of him to make that first request in Common or whatever it was. *Are Wolves' Milk addicts kind of obvious after a while, or do they just look pretty strung out due to the rocketing back and forth between "IT'S LIKE CAT'S GRACE BUT AWESOMER" and "oh god the pain everything hurts and my wis modifier is in negative numbers"? We didn't notice anything really with Ashra, but, well. Ashra. **They get obvious. Symptoms vary. Addicts are prone to Buffing Psychosis, a malady characterized by twitching, paranoia, depression, and mania... though it could just be the overuse of any buffing spell. The drug's manic euphoria and ego-boosting elements tend to stick around, too. *Given that I apparently do have a more formal/abandoned name, would there ever be any circumstances in which societal norms dictate that I should switch back to it? **Adressing an elven elder, a guildhome Potentate, a censor of the rolls, a magistrate, a customs official, etc... it's a legal thing. *Would Celestial have been spoken in Baldur Senate meetings? Are records kept in Celestial? **The Senate was conducted in the common tongue. Some records are kept in that language. *Is Draconic the next best thing to Celestial in terms of formality? **...no. ***oh thank god *Are there ever any normal-person situations where Infernal or Abyssal would be appropriate, or are they "what you learn on the Negative Energy Plane stays in the Negative Energy Plane"? **Well, if a "normal person" needs to cower in front of a daemon or a devil... *How illegal are sentient undead in Goneril City? (I am assuming "THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE" is a valid possibility.) Leilah 9x04 *Invisibility is broken by attacking a foe, or casting a spell that includes and effects foes. So examples of spells that you could cast while not breaking invisibility: Summon Monster, buffs with range of touch or greater, spells like Bless that specifically exclude enemies, Wall of Stone, Rainbow Pattern as long as you don't cast it directly over enemies. **Yes, but all spells with somatic components suffer a %20 spell failure chance while the caster is invisible, due to not being able to see their own hands or components. It is impossible to cast from a scroll or from a spellbook while invisible. ***What about adding See Invisibility to the caster? *Do cloud spells break invisibility, or do they count as indirect attacks? **Cloud spells, including ones that don't do damage, or using a grenade-like smoke item, breaks invisibility. *Are all spells that grant a target a miss chance (Displacement, Blur, Blink, Entropic Shield, Mirror Image) banned? **None banned, simply classified noncombat. *What is the maximum shot weight that Wind Wall will affect? **Wind Wall will provide a %30 miss chance against all gun projectiles 5 pounds or less. *With Medium size and Strength 20, what is the lightest cannon I can wield one handed? **Cannons cannot be wielded one handed. *What about Large Size and Strength 24? **Cannons cannot be wielded one handed. However, if you're carrying a cannon, anything shooting anything over 9 ounces weighs about 1700 kg, scaling up. *How much does a 9 oz. swivel cannon weigh unmounted? **Weighs about 500 lbs. 9x05 Axiomates *Why are they called the Axiomates? Does this signify their alignment? *What is their alignment? *Are they linked to the plane of Mechanus? *Are they dragons or outsider dragons? What was their history before Tiamat left the PMP? *Were they already alive when Tiamat left, or were they created/brought to the PMP by Tiamat before she left? *How strong is their connection to Tiamat? *Will they likely have access to certain divine powers? *Are they in some ways aspects of Tiamat Herself? *Are they merely assigned, or somehow empowered with the powers of procreation? *How did dragons reproduce before Tiamat left? *If the Axiomates are defeated, will the dragon eggs previously laid by them continue to hatch and mature? *What planar beings are opposed to Tiamat/evil dragons, and might be willing to aid the party either materially, indirectly, or as part of the party? **To all questions: see Ille Draconum Book Zero. Dragons *Do dragon eggs need any special conditions to mature and hatch? **Yes. *How malleable is a dragons mind and belief system immediately after birth? **Unknown. *How long are the stages of dragon life, and what is their general mental state and abilities during this time? **Unknown. *What is the likely resting place/encounter environment for the Axiomates? **Unknown. *Do any nations currently suffer from a dragon "infestation"? **Yes. *Can nations hire dragons if the dragon sees a mutually beneficial relationship with the state? **It's more likely than you think. *Were the dragons that were part of the Invasion of Malvont mercenaries hired by Baldur? **It is unclear. *How common are dragons of Old (400-600 yr.), Very Old (600-800), Ancient (800-1000), Wyrm (1000-1200), and Great Wyrm (1200+) age? **Rare, Very Rare, Even More Rare, Oddly Common, and Extremely Rare. *How do dragons plan? Are they long term schemers, or chaotic forces of self-fulfillment? **Unknown. *What are a dragons interests in Eon, besides gold and treasure? Have they ever been political figures? **Unknown. *How long does a dragon typically stay in a lair before abandoning it? **Unknown. *Do Eon dragons prep their lairs with traps, breath weapon murderholes, ect, or do they prefer to just lounge around on their loot? **One can learn this from experience only.. Portfolio *How are portfolios transferred, especially when the recipient did not originally defeat the previous possessor? **Unknown. *Will unclaimed portfolios eventually become receptive to anyone who picks it up? **Unknown. *Will portfolios exert a psychic or mental call to nearby targets or those it sees as worthy? **Unknown. *Does a portfolio hold a sentient or limit awareness of it's surroundings? **Unknown. *What are the factors that will ease the transfer of a portfolio? **Unknown. *What are the challenges and likely opponents for a newly created demigod? **Other gods, members of the major pantheon, superpowerful outsiders. *Will possession of a portfolio grant instant godhood, and how strong will their divine powers be? **See Ille Draconum *Why does lightning still exist in Eon, when the portfolio of lightning is unclaimed? **Unknown. *Will possession of the portfolio of lightning clash with being a god of an unrelated aspect, like dragonslayers? **Unknown. *How will the introduction of a new (demi)god be seen by the incumbent gods? **Either as a threat, a potential ally, or with utter ennui. *Will new gods attract the attention of new organizations/cults/ect? Interplanar deific social registers? **Unknown. *Will attempting to possess a new portfolio require tests? **Unknown. *What happens if you destroy a portfolio? **Unknown. *How can a portfolio be destroyed? **Unknown. *How could a portfolio be hidden in the multiverse? **Unknown. *Could the portfolio be sent to a random place on the Astral Plane? **Unknown. *If you physically took the portfolio away from a newly created god, will the god lose their powers? **Unknown. Economy *What are the potential sources of resistance for the introduction of new, cheaper, foreign goods? Government official, the tax bureaucracy, black market dealers, guilds? **Yes. *Could we use Sir Tobo to influence the Port Brogan government to create a favorable investment haven for the formation of our shipping company? **No. *Eventually we'll like a shipping map with distances and time scales for the Northern Continent for planing out our shipping routes. Also price ranges for goods, both in the town of manufacture and in suitable markets. But later. **You can make that whenever you'd like, just don't eat up too much session time with it. *What are the trade tariffs on international shipping? **Varies. *Who are the major players in international shipping as of now? **Vishnu, Jenka, Hanul, Sanskris, Marcus Fairlan, Brutus Fairlan, Jorial Sonder, The Pirate King, MMIncorporated, CorinthianBlue Corporation, T'nari Trans-Oasis, National Goneril Import Export, Outdock Express Incorporated, Torials Passage Corporation. Many industries are vertically integrated through guild systems. *How are taxes calculated on international shipping? **Varies by state. *How easy/heavily taxed are corporations in the various nation-states of Eon? **Varies by state. *What sort of collateral will banks accept? **Magic weapons, ships, land, wonderous items, etc. *What are the typical terms for a large 6-month to a year loan? **Varies by state. *If we default, what sort of collection agencies can we expect to come calling? **You know Shylock? Misc *Are there any local (within 3 days travel time )adventuring sites that will have a minimum of trapfuckery, official attention (This should be in a museum! This IS a museum!/Barron Ganth kinda likes this place, y'know), and that we can loot with minimal consequences for a significant gain? **Yes. *What was the Baldurdash encounter rater on the 5-star scale if we were facing it with a rested and healed party? **1.5, unless you wanted to say "fuck the level objective, I'm killing Malicor," in which case: 3 *what was the rating of the Traitor's Pass encounter? **2 *Will we be able to make use of discrete factors/palace pages to shop and make contacts within Goneril City without having to march outside with a full military escort to do business? **As of how you stand with Barron Ganth currently, yes. *Can we use the Map Table to internet shop for adventures, assignments, and equipment? **Nope. Plus, the only person who might give you assignments is Vishnu, who is on-board. *What is orichalum, and what are the mythic figures associated with it? Is Avimeius one of them? **Orichalum is presumably a kind of metal. Only known reference is in ID 0.6.3. *What was the holy symbol of Halal? **The fasces. 9x5.5 *How long does it take to install a holy fountain? *Can I get a list of price modifiers (format 1.00=SRD) for Goneril City, order of priority small, high value goods? Presumably this would have been while we were shopping on the first day of the Kremlin. EG: all the various drugs, mithril and adamantium ingots, alchemists fire. *How dense and bulky is oil on a volume/cost basis, and what is it used for in Eon? *Where is the cargo bay in the JK3? Please don't tell me it's under the powder room. *How large is the cargo bay? *What is our cargo capacity in weight, sans Vishnu's mech? *How much does Vishnu's mech weigh? *Where is the mech stored? *Will attacking a cannon with an adamantine dagger for the purpose of sabotage provoke an AoO? *What are cannons made of, and will adamantium spark when struck against that material? *What are the combat statistics of an unmounted cannon used as a two-handed bludgeoning improvised weapon? Category:Forums